The invention relates to a method of monitoring the location of a mining vehicle in a mine, the method comprising: determining data on the location of at least one mining vehicle in the mine; transmitting the location data to a mine control system; and employing the obtained location data in the mine control system for monitoring the operation of the mining vehicle.
The invention further relates to a system of monitoring the location of a mining vehicle in a mine, the system comprising: means for determining the location of a mining vehicle, a mine control system, at least one control unit arranged in the mining vehicle, at least one wireless network for data transmission between the control unit of the mining vehicle and the mine control system, and at least one base station for creating the wireless network.
Different mining vehicles are used in a mine, such as rock drilling rigs, loading vehicles and transport vehicles. The mining vehicles may be manned or unmanned. For monitoring the location of a mining vehicle, it is known to provide predetermined places in a mine with reading devices, which register the mining vehicle and give information on the location of the mining vehicle to the mine control system. However, the building of such fixed infrastructure in a mine is expensive and difficult. Furthermore, reading devices may be damaged in severe mining conditions.